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International and European Curriculum Vitae

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The Use of a Curriculum Vitae

When applying for an academic, education, scientific or research positions, you have to write up a CURRICULUM VITAE, or CV for short, rather than a resume. This is also necessary, when you apply for fellowships or government and private grants.

When applying to a job offer in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, or Asia, you will have to submit a CV, rather than a resume. Outside the U.S.A., employers expect to to know personal information which would never be on an American resume. This includes your date of birth, your place of birth, sex, marital status and your nationality (based on the passport you carry, not on some idea like "Afro-American" etc!). Even, if you apply to an American company abroad, U.S. employment laws about what information job applicants can be asked, do not apply and, you have to conform to local employment laws.

The essential Differences between a Curriculum Vitae and a Resume

There are a number of differences between a curriculum vitae and a resume. The most important ones are summarized below:

	A CV is longer, usually 2+ pages, and supplies more chronologically organized details in relation to skills and background, of the applicant
	An employment CV always has a detailed educational and academic (or trade/apprenticeship training) section with exact dates of attendance and completion. An academic employment or research employment CV will have additional sections about publications, presentations, and research details. For instance: For a Worldwide General Employment CV - High School: (Place; from/to: 19xx-20xx) - Apprenticeship: (Place; Employer, from/to) - Master Trade School: (Place; from/to) For a Worldwide Higher Management Employment CV - High School: (Place; from/to) - University: (Place; from/to, GPA if applicable) - Graduate School: (Place; from/to) - Professional Training (Legal, Accountancy etc.- Place; from/to) For a U.S. Academic CV - High School:(Place; from/to) - University: (Undergraduate, Place; Subject; GPA, if applicable; from/to) - Graduate School: (Masters/M.Phil; Subject; Place; from/to) - Doctoral (Subject Dissertation Title, University; Place; from/to) - Post Doctoral Fellowships or Research (Institution (Place; from/to) The sequence of your academic education is often presented inverted (your most recent educational experience first and High school last)
	A Curriculum Vitae includes a section on Personal Information that does not exist in a resume. This Personal Data will have to include the items shown below. An academic CV in the U.S.A. may have reduced personal information Date of Birth: (usually in dd.mm.yyyy format) Age Place of Birth (City or Commune and Country) Marital Status Citizenship (this is the country of your passport and is therefore also also known as Nationality) Number of Children (with or without their ages; this is optional, but useful if the employer has to apply for a residence permit) Visa or Status of Work/Resident Permit (if you are a foreigner) Membership of Professional Associations and Accreditation (e.g.accountancy, bar, professional engineers, medical) Sex (this might sound unusual, but often first names can be both male and female) Publications, Books and Awards (Only enter these if they are of substance - some international recruiters think that for instance "Salesmen of the year" would be insufficient as an award to be mentioned) Some recruiters and human resource professionals recommend to add "Personal Interests" or "Hobbies" or "Civil Activities". Others think that this does not have a place on a Curriculum Vitae. It is clearly up to, how you feel about the issue. Though, we would recommend against entering things like religion or religious activities (e.g. Member of the Episcopal Church" or similar affiliations), unless they are part of the job application (e.g. if you are a pastor or applying to a church administrative job etc)

European and International Curriculum Vitae: An Example

This is the preferred international format when you apply for a job outside the USA or Canada. It should be two, and usually not more than four pages long. If you have long publication lists (for an academic CV) then attach them separately as "Research and Publications".

Some recruiters and CV writers prefer to have education just after the Qualification Summary. Others place it after the Work Experience. Both are correct and acceptable. Your choice might depend on how you estimate the prospective employer values your educational level versus your Work Experience.

Remember, there is no "One Curriculum Vitae fits all Job Applications" You have to individualize the applications and emphasize the things that are important for that particular job!

The second, and subsequent pages of your Curriculum Vitae should always have your contact details on the top. They might get separated from the first page and it would be a pity if you lost a job, just because the potential employer cannot find out, who the "wonderful person" described on the second or third page is.

Some additional Notes

Contact Address: State your full name, detailed address, phone number, if necessary, cell phone number and e-mail address at the top of your CV.

Objective: (sometimes also Job Objective or Career Objective) Be careful how you formulate this. It has to be a short credible statement that would make you attractive to the company offering the job. Therefore, it has to be job specific and not a general Career Objective.

Qualification Summary: Hold this short. It is simply to point out that you are qualified, academically as well as in terms of work experience and skills, for the job offered

Work (or Professional) Experience: You could add below "Responsibilities" something like "Staff Position" or "Line Position" with a remark like "two shift-supervisors with 20 members reporting to this position". This would give a recruiter a clear indication, whether or not you have managed people. The key is to keep the statement short.

Use action words when you describe the details of your job responsibilities. Avoid simply listing tasks and responsibilities. You are not writing a job description but instead, you point out to a prospective employer that you can offer specific experiences which make you suitable for the job offered.

The further back you go in your job history, the less detailed your descriptions of responsibilities, tasks completed and achievements should become. Do not include items that have no relevance to the job you apply for.

Having had a long career and steady career progression with a single employer: If you apply a good layout this should work to your advantage. We would recommend a layout as shown below:

The above layout should point to and put across to the reader a clear progression in your career. You might have to experiment a little with the individual statements so that you get a coherent career. The key here, if you have the substance, is in the presentation!

Education: Write this chronological. Always give the year the degree was awarded, the name of the university (or college), the city, state (where this applies) and country where the university is located . Give the proper title of the degree, e.g. if it is a B.Sc. (Econ) (Hons) then state it like that. Also give the subject of the degree (in the USA often stated as Major and Minor). European recruiters and employers generally check with the university where your degree comes from. They also have lists of accredited universities or colleges, so don't bother with degree mills or doubtful online colleges. Misstating or overstating your education will, in Europe and the Middle East, lead to instant dismissal and you may even be prosecuted.

Languages: Assessing language skills is notoriously difficult. But as a general rule use divide the skill into: speaking, writing and reading. Translation and interpreting skills are a whole different issue. You might very well have good language skills, but are unable to translate properly, let alone interpret.

• fluent (if you speak write or read close to a native

• good (you are able to speak write and read almost anything and understand it, but maybe your grammar is not perfect and needs editing)

• basic (you can speak, write and read basic texts)

Your language skills will have the greatest credibility if you have certification from a state institution like the Goethe Institute (for German) or the Alliance Francais (for French). If you spent time at a language school in the country, where the language is spoken, say so!

Professional Associations: In some countries, like the United Kingdom, and in many of its former colonies, these are very important, because they regulate access and the excersise or the skills of to certain professions (the Bar, the Law Society, the various Accountancy bodies, the Society of Actuaries etc). State it here, if you are a member of such a body. But don't fill this with memberships of some meaningless voluntary institution.

Publications (and, if applicable, Research): If the list of meaningful and job relevant publications is short, show it here. Otherwise use a separate page for that. If you have completed Research of a doctoral or MPhil. dissertation mention the title, the year and the subject here.

Personal Data: Details of this are shown above in either the green section or the actual CV. In an academic CV for the USA, the amount of personal information should be limited.

Put the date of completion of the Curriculum Vitae at the bottom of the last page so that the reader knows, he has a current CV.

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The key elements of writing a CV is that the items you mention have to be relevant to the job you apply for . Listing a lot of achievements that do not show a link to the prospective job is useless and your CV will end up in the waste paper bin.

Some more Tips for writing a Curriculum Vitae

• Make sure your resume focuses on the right audiences, not a general audience. Make the recipient and the reader feels the Curriculum Vitae was exclusively written for him.
• State achievements, along with strong action words and keywords and keyword phrases.
• Write a resume that is attractive to a human reader such as the recruiter or HR professional. But, it has, at the same time to be readable by computerized resume management systems.
• Write your resume on straight white paper. Manage white spaces well with your layout. See that there are no typos. Have it read and re-read by a third person before you send it of to a potential employer.

Good Luck!